Records

Ave.

Ave.

0-0

Final Four

0-0

0-0

Playoffs

0-0

0-0

Top 16

0-0

1-4

Regular Season

3-2

1-4

Overall

3-2

Referees

Crew Chief

MARTIN, JOSE, Spain

Referee

MUHVIC, DUBRAVKO, Croatia

Umpire

HERCEG, SINISA, Croatia

The Take

A pivotal game in Group A takes place in Sopot, Poland, where Prokom Trefl faces Montepaschi Siena on Wednesday night. At 1-4, the Polish champion is still looking for its first home win, as it already registered losses against CSKA Moscow and Tau Ceramica. Meanwhile, Montepaschi, which is tied for third place in the group at 3-2, has not won on the road, losing against those very same teams, CSKA and Tau. Prokom has improved its roster with center Jovo Stanojevic, who had 9 points and 6 rebounds against Olympiacos last week. Stanojevic offers mid-range shots and size, adding versatility to a frontcourt that already features shot-block specialist and newfound offensive threat Thomas Van den Spiegel, intense power forward Filip Dylewicz and do-it-all Tomas Masiulis. Van den Spiegel is set to have a big matchup against Ksystof Lavrinovic in what could be one of the keys to this game. Meanwhile, Stanojevic and Dylewicz will measure their rebounding skills against Shaun Stonerook and Ben Eze. Tomas Ress could be a surprising factor for Montepaschi due to his intensity and deep shooting range. Prokom has to be most concerned on slowing Terrell McIntyre, Montepaschi's silent leader and floor general. He teams up with Vlado Ilievski to form an elite point guard duo. McIntyre will not have it easy against a good defender like Christos Harissis and newcomer Mustafa Shakur, who is ready to keep shining like he did in Athens last week - 16 points, 4 rebounds. Montepaschi is really deep at both wings, with Rimantas Kaukenas offering all-around scoring skills and getting help from athletic swingman Romain Sato, scoring threat Bootsy Thornton and defensive ace Marco Carrareto. Kaukenas will have a big scoring battle on his hands against Dajuan Wagner and Donatas Slanina while Sato will have a tough mission to guard Milan Gurovic, who went scoreless against Olympiacos and will be ready to bounce back in style. The game is a must-win for both teams if they are to meet their preseason expectations as Prokom needs to protect its home floor, while Montepaschi will need to find some wins on the road. Be sure to tune in to see an intense battle this week at Hala Olivia.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Euroleague.net

Quotes Head Coaches

KIJEWSKI, EUGENIUSZ

Prokom Trefl Sopot

"It will be a very important game, the most important of this Euroleague season. We are able to win it, but we have to be focused and motivated through 40 minutes of the game. Of course I feel big respect for our opponents. They have a very strong roster. The most important will be stopping Lavrinovic and Kaukenas. We have to play our game and I
believe that my team will show our fans that we can play good game."

PIANIGIANI, SIMONE

Montepaschi Siena

"We have only a few hours to prepare the game, but we have worked hard in this first part of the season. Our chemistry has reached a good level and this helps us to optimize every single practice. We know that Prokom is a full talented team despite the bad start to the season. But they still have the chance to qualify to Top 16 and they can't looe at home again. It will be a tough game and we'll be able to put the 100% of our intensity on the court."

Players

RESS, TOMAS

Montepaschi Siena

"To reach the Top 16 you must win always at home and try to win at least once on the road. From the start of the competition, we have played good games fighting till the end except for the last five minutes in Vitoria. I think that this could be a key game in our group because if we win, we could leave out Prokom from the race for the Top 16. We are ready, but at the same time we know that Prokom is very good team."

Montepaschi Siena showed it can contend in Group A by earning a 59-84 win over Prokom Trefl Sopot at the Olivia Sports Hall on Wednesday night. It took the Italian champs only a few minutes to settle down, using a 2-13 run to finish the first period and never looking back. The lead reached 21-43 by halftime, grew to 41-66 after three periods and peaked at 50-78 in the fourth. The win was Montepaschi's first road victory of the season, improved its record to 4-2 and will move the team into a share of second place in Group A after the game between Tau Ceramica and CSKA Moscow on Thursday. Rimantas Kaukenas had another solid evening with 14 points, while Ksistof Lavrinovic dominated inside with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Vlado Ilievski added 13, Terrell McIntyre had 12 and Ben Eze 10 for the winning side. Prokom remained winless at home and dropped to 1-5 this season. The Polish champs visit Union Olimpija next week feeling the mounting pressure to win or see the team's hopes of a spot in the Top 16 completely disappear. The team's lone bright spots were the play of reserve center Jovo Stanojevic, who for long stretches was Prokom's lone offensive threat and finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds, and forward Thomas Masiulis, who never quit and posted 16 points and 7 boards.

Both teams came up short on their opening possessions before Milan Gurovic corrected a Christos Harissis miss for the game's first points. Shaun Stonerook got Montepaschi on the board with a three-pointer. The visitors continued to attack from outside with Kaukenas and Romain Sato adding points and when McIntyre stripped Tomas Van den Spiegel of the ball, the Prokom center grabbed him and received and unsportsmanlike foul. Still Masiulis and Donatas Slanina with a jump shot-plus foul put Prokom ahead 10-9. Eze scored on the offensive glass and Sato added a basket as the hosts called a timeout. But it did not help and Kaukenas's pull-up jumper made it 10-15. Montepaschi dominated the flow of play, but did not convert that into a significant advantage. Van den Spiegel made a pair of free throws, but then McIntyre went coast-to-coast for an acrobatic layup-plus-foul. He followed that with a fast-break basket and then Eze added 2 free throws as part of 2-13 run that sealed the first period with Montepaschi up 12-22.

Stanojevic, who had a short jumper waived off after the first-quarter buzzer, started the second period with another basket from close range, but it would not be enough to spark the Prokom offense. Stonerook, Ilievski, Marco Carrretto and Lavrinovic all scored as Montepaschi started to dominate. Siena kept Prokom scoreless for over three-and-a-half minutes during which it reeled off 10 unanswered points before Krzysztof Roszyk beat the three-point buzzer with a triple. However that had no affect on the momentum as Bootsy Thornton answered in stylen. The Stanojevic went inside for a bucket, however the visitors continued their domination as Ilievski and Tomas Ress free throws increased the lead to 19. Then Ilievski buried a deep three to cap a 5-19 surge and give Montepaschi a 21-43 halftime advantage.

Montepaschi came out the way it left off, with Kaukenas driving for a layup and Eze coming up with a steal and slam. Stanojevic scored inside and Harissis drilled a triple as Prokom showed signs of life. However McIntyre fed Sato in transition and despite a Stanojevic hook, Montepaschi only increased its lead. Lavrinovic made it 30-55 and although Prokom was starting to find points, the visitors seemed to have an answer for every basket and Prokom couldn't get any closer. The lead reached 26 on a McIntyre triple before Mustafa Shakur's free throw made it 41-66 at the end of the third period.

Lavrinovic padded the lead with a layup to start the fourth quarter. Masiulis scored 5 straight points, however Prokom still couldn't break the 20-point barrier. The hosts looked ready to throw in the white flag as it became clear that the final period was for protocol only. Nevertheless the visitors continued to amass points. The lead reached its peak at 28 before Shakur drilled a three and later Slanina made a layup to wrap up a demoralizing night for the home town fans.

Head Coaches

KIJEWSKI, EUGENIUSZ

Prokom Trefl Sopot

"I have to think about our game, our performance. After some negative information in the media, the atmosphere in the club was much worse. Today we lost the game because we weren't focused and we committed too many turnovers."

PIANIGIANI, SIMONE

Montepaschi Siena

"There is no easy game in the Euroleague. We expected a tough game here and for sure today we did not get an easy game. We knew that Prokom has problems with injuries. Moreover we planned to stop their outside shots. That is why we put stress on stopping their scorers Slanina and Gurovic. I think we did it and thanks to our aggressive defense we have won the game."